The invention relates to a void forming device and, more particularly, to a device for supporting a lift member relative to a concrete mold and a device for forming a void in the concrete around the member so as to provide an exposed lift member in the resulting concrete product.
Precast concrete products are used in numerous construction projects and are desirably provided with lift members such as rings or sections of rebar which can be used to lift the precast concrete product in the process of positioning the precast concrete product where desired.
Devices for use in embedding lift members into concrete products are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,208 to DoMizio, U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,911 to Pennypacker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,378 to Kelly et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,065,576 to Prizler et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,344,206 to Forni, and others. Typically, some form of void forming member is positioned within a concrete mold, and a lift element such as a ring or section of rebar is supported so as to be exposed through the void formed by the void forming member such that the ring or rebar member can be used to lift the precast concrete member.
One persistent problem in the art is related to the proper positioning of the void forming device and lift member relative to the mold. A number of the aforementioned devices are handheld devices which obviously must be held in place by a person. This results in the need for personnel to hold the device in place for a suitable amount of time, and also can only be used in areas which are accessible by hand.
Others in the aforementioned group of patents are designed to be secured within the mold. Unfortunately, these devices typically require holes to be drilled through the walls of the mold so that the void-forming members can be secured in place as desired. Clearly, this can lead to a severe shortening in the useful life of the mold.
It is common during the pouring of concrete into molds to cause a shaking of the mold so as to insure good distribution of the concrete throughout the mold. Unfortunately, this tends to shake lift members or rings free from conventional devices such as those described above.
It is clear that the need remains for an apparatus for embedding lift members into precast concrete products which can be positioned in a wide variety of different places within a mold, while avoiding the need for drilling holes in same.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which firmly holds the lift member relative to the mold.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which can be positioned on curved mold surfaces.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear hereinbelow.
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects and advantages have been readily attained.
According to the invention, an apparatus is provided for supporting a lift member in a concrete mold, which apparatus comprises a resilient member having a void forming portion and a lift member receptacle for releasably holding a lift member, and a mounting plate having a front surface and a rear surface and adapted for receiving said resilient member from said rear surface with said void forming portion extending from said front surface, said mounting plate having mounting structure on said rear surface for mounting to a concrete mold.
In accordance with a preferred aspect of the present invention, the mounting structure is advantageously provided in the form of mechanical fasteners, magnetic fasteners, and combinations thereof. The mounting plate of the present invention is particularly advantageous because it is designed to be useful with any of these types of mounting devices, and therefor can be used to provide enhanced versatility during preparation of precast concrete products.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, a handle attachment may be provided for handheld use.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, the resilient member is preferably provided in the form of a base portion and to void forming elements extending from the base portion so as to define the void forming portion. Each of the two void forming elements has a surface facing the other of the two void forming elements so as to define a slot and the lift member receptacle therebetween. In this embodiment, the mounting plate may advantageously be provided with dowel members extending from the front surface thereof such that the dowel members extend into the void forming elements on either side of the lift member receptacle so as to exert a holding force through the resilient member to a lift member in the lift member receptacle, thereby advantageously holding the lift member against dislodging, for example while the mold is being shaken.